The mines put Cottage Grove on the map, but the timber beasts with their old tin hats have been its keeper.
Golden Was the Past
Settlers built the first sawmill in the area in 1853 at what is now Doreana Lake to mill lumber for homes. Timber activities soon overshadowed mining and, in 1857, Harvey Hazelton built the region’s first commercial mill on the Silk Creek.
Initially, a lack of dependable transportation to the mills limited the amount of timber that the industry could profitably cut. That changed in the 1880s when mine owners built a railroad to serve the Bohemia gold mines. As mining diminished, mills stepped in to keep the railways running.
